The following article was written by David Phelps, the recently retired director of the American Institute for International Steel and now a contributing writer for Steel Market Update. You can find more information about Mr. Phelps in the About Us section of our website. On February 18th, the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration shocked […]
The following article was written by steel industry consultant and contributor to Steel Market Update, Paul Lowrey. Mr. Lowrey owns a consulting company called Steel Research Associated, LLC which works with steel mills and large distributors or manufacturing companies involved with steel and steel products. More information about Mr. Lowrey can be found in the […]
The following article was written by Peter Brebach who is the owner of Iron Angels of Colorado a company which specializes in imports of pipe and tube and other steel products. You can find more information on Mr. Brebach on our website in the About Us section. Everybody I talked to was surprised by the […]
A Nebraska court ruled Wednesday that a law passed in 2011 improperly allowed Gov. Dave Heineman to give TransCanada eminent domain power to advance the Keystone XL pipeline project in Nebraska. The decision regarding eminent domain should have been made by the Nebraska Public Service Commission, ruled Lancaster Judge Stephanie Stacy. The 2011 law was […]
Gibraltar Industries is expecting 2014 growth to be driven mainly by the residential new construction and residential remodeling said the company in its earnings call on Feb. 20. “While we’re starting 2014 at a relatively slow pace given the cold and harsh weather in much of the country since the new year, we believe the […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company reports fourth quarter 2013 sales for all products were $2.31 billion, up 22.1 percent from $1.89 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012 and down 5.6 percent from $2.44 billion in the third quarter of 2013. Net income for the quarter was $61.8 million, compared to $95.1 million in third […]
The domestic steel mills and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) manufacturing companies which filed dumping cases against India, the Philippines, Saudia Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam are happy. However, the big fish – Korea – escaped with no duties being instituted. The U.S. Department of Commerce released affirmative preliminary determinations […]
It was a crazy day as all of the government data was not released until 5 PM ET or later – and there was a lot of it. Perhaps the most interesting is the US Department of Commerce “preliminary dumping margins” on oil country tubular goods. Maybe I should restate that – the most interesting […]
U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for December 2013 increased 10.4 percent, to 398,059 units, up from 360,568 units shipped in December 2012. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 7.2 percent in December 2013, to 348,872 units, up from 325,435 units shipped in December 2012. For the year-to-date, U.S. shipments of residential […]
According to Baker Hughes data from February 14, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,764 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 7 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 7 to 1,423 rigs, gas rigs down 14 to 337 rigs, […]
During the month of January, Steel Market Update provided steel import forecasts for the month of January based on the weekly license data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce. As we have explained previously, license data can be quite misleading compared to the final Census numbers. However, we did receive a number of emails […]
The US Department of Commerce said it will maintain anti-dumping and countervailing duties on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) imported from China, in announcement made earlier this week. The recent decision closed loopholes in the 2009 AD/CV duties imposed by the International Trade Commission, which allowed pipe made in China but finished in other countries […]
According to Baker Hughes data from February 7th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,771 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 14 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 6 to 1,416 rigs, gas rigs down 7 to 351 rigs, […]
Construction spending inched up 0.1 percent in December and picked up a modest 4.8 percent for all of 2013. Apartments and single-family homes offset declines in private nonresidential and public projects, according to US Census Bureau data analyzed by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The AGC reported: “Construction put in place totaled $930 […]
A State Department report on The Keystone XL Pipeline concludes that the project will have no significant impact on green house emissions that could affect the climate. The report opens the way for approval by President Obama to allow the pipeline construction to proceed. Approval is required because the proposed pipeline will cross the U.S. […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 31st, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,785 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 8 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 6 to 1,422 rigs, gas rigs up 2 to 358 rigs, […]
On Wednesday of this week, USS/POSCO (UPI) opened their galvanized order book for the month of April. At the same time the mill announced enhancements to the galvanized product line and new effective base prices on all carbon flat rolled sheet produced at their steel mill located in Pittsburg, California. The mill announced two enhancements […]
David Phelps warned our readers not to put too much stock in the U.S. Department of Commerce license data, which he felt could be very misleading. Our initial forecast for January steel imports produced through the aid of the import license data from the 14th and again on the 21st of January indicated a possible […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 24th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,777 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is unchanged when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 8 to 1,416 rigs, gas rigs down 9 to 356 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs up […]
Light vehicle production in NAFTA in 2013 totaled, 16,141,347 units, the best year since 2002 and an increase of 6.0 percent on 2012 (Source Wards Automotive.). In 3 months through December production was up by 6.9 percent year over year. Light trucks which include crossovers are surging faster than cars, the year over year growth […]
Contractors are expecting a better year in 2014 said the Associated General Contractors of America in their latest report, Optimism Returns: The 2014 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook. In a survey of 800 AGCA members, firms reported stronger optimism for construction demand and employment than they have since the downturn in 2008. More than 40 […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located […]
The following is a press release from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) on November 2013 shipments of heating and cooling equipment data: U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for November 2013 decreased 15.5 percent, to 348,542 units, down from 412,416 units shipped in November 2012. Residential electric storage water heater shipments […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 17th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,777 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 23 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 15 to 1,408 rigs, gas rigs up 8 to 365 rigs, […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes (PPI), for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Wednesday reported December results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. See below for the official description […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 10, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,754 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 3 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 15 to 1,393 rigs, gas rigs down 15 to 357 rigs, […]
Cargill will build its eighth U.S. steel processing center in response to increased demand for carbon steel sheet & coil products used in the manufacturing and shale oil and gas industry in Northern Colorado. The hot-rolled steel processing facility, located 60 miles north of Denver in Windsor, will begin construction in early 2014 and provide […]
Final November trade data shows that the United States received a total of 2,592,549 net tons of steel for the month. This is a decrease of 16.4 percent compared to the 3,101,063 NT imported in October. It is also a decrease from November 2012 tonnage by 4.8 percent. December license data figures are estimated at […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released revised import statistics for the month of November and December. Total preliminary imports for November are 2,584,176 net tons (NT), down 16.7 percent compared to October import figures. November imports are below both the 3 month-moving-average (3MMA) and 12 month-moving-average (12MMA) calculated through October. December imports, based on […]